Over the last few years there has been a great increase in the number of terminals capable of setting up a call with at least one destination. There are fixed telephones suitable for setting up at least one telephone call. The most recent telephone terminals, whether fixed or mobile, also present multiple functions, and in particular a large screen making it possible to set up a video conference with a destination, or indeed to write short messages using the short message service (SMS) messaging service.
Furthermore, use of the Internet, which has become commonplace or even essential both in the home and in professional surroundings, has also given rise to increasing numbers of applications that require a large screen on terminals suitable for setting up a call with at least one destination.
For example, reference may be made to fixed terminals that have a “large” screen separate from the terminal, such as models that make use of touch screen technologies. Such touch screens are incorporated in particular in products such as: Open Peak®, Verizon Hub®, or indeed Home Manager® from AT&T, which are “all-in-one” products dedicated to a home communications network capable simultaneously of performing functions specific to a telephone (whether fixed or mobile), to a TV set, to a computer, . . . .
From an ergonomic point of view, the advantage of those communications systems using a large screen is that when the user sets up a call, the identifier of the third party is visible on the screen of the terminal being used by the user. However since the size of these screens is becoming ever greater, if the user seeks to keep the identifier of the third party confidential, then the user faces a problem associated with the screens being easy for someone else to view.
According to the inventors, in the near future, it will be possible to view (or monitor) ongoing calls from all of the pieces of equipment in a home network (television, computer, . . . ). It will then be impossible to keep an outgoing call confidential without people looking at the TV or a computer becoming aware of the call.
A terminal 10 having a large screen 12 is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1. Conventionally, a user seeking to set up a call with at least one destination uses a keypad to input (E1) the identifier ID corresponding to the destination, e.g. the number 10 04 33 06 72. The identifier ID is then processed (E2) by a processor module 13 incorporated in the terminal 10 (and shown outside the terminal solely for the purpose of clarifying the way the user is put into communication with the destination). Conventionally, the processor module 13 stores the call identifier in a history of the calls made by the terminal and sends (E3) the identifier to the large screen in order to display the identifier of the destination of the call. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the large screen displays the number of the destination, and it may also display its identity (forename, surname) or indeed other information associated with the destination.
For example, assuming there are n (where n is an integer) terminals within a home, shown in FIG. 2 as being connected to the same local network and displaying simultaneously information about ongoing calls, a user seeking to organize an anniversary surprise for his or her spouse, for example, is not only obliged to hide away to avoid being seen or heard by his/her spouse, but must also isolate the n−1 other terminals that display information associated with the call that is to be kept secret and that is being made by using an originating terminal on which the user is dialing the call. Such an operation can be difficult if the terminals are large, or even impossible if the terminals are too large.
Furthermore, even if the user manages to carry out this operation, it is still necessary for no trace of the call to remain, whether within the terminal or indeed within the equipment of the communications operator.
The inventors have not identified any presently existing solution that can be used to solve the problem associated with keeping the destination of a call confidential.